Is The American Cancer Society a Scam

by Howard Jamison on November 18, 2013

This is a rant about the multi-billion dollar cancer industry – The launching of President Nixon’s 1971 war against cancer provided the ACS (American Cancer Society) with a well-exploited opportunity to pursue its own self-interested agenda.

A major portion of the funds raised by the organization have gone and still go to pay overhead, salaries, fringe benefits, and travel expenses of its national executives. They also go to pay chief executive officers, who earn six-figure salaries in several states, and the hundreds of other employees who work out of some 3,000 regional offices nationwide. The typical ACS affiliate, which helps raise the money for the national office, spent a large part of its budget on salaries, pensions, fringe benefits and overhead for its own employees. Salaries and overhead of most affiliates also was excessive, although most direct community services were handled by unpaid volunteers.

Charity Ratings

The American Institute of Philanthropy (charitywatch.org) only rates the Society a “C” and The Charity Navigator (charitynavigator.org) only gives it 2 out of 4 stars so make sure you do your homework before donating.

Watch the unbelievable report by CNN on some cancer charities who are ripping people off.

In spite of over $25 billion that has been spent since the war against cancer was launched in 1971 and in spite of the 25 million deaths, there hasn’t been any significant increase in survival rates. So, in spite of this vast effort in damage control, cancer survival rates are basically the same. Right now, the cancer establishment is still telling us — give us more money and we will win the war against cancer by finding the “magic bullet” (some drug or expensive process).

The American Cancer Society bears a major decades long responsibility for losing the winnable war against cancer. Reforming the organization is, in principle, relatively easy and directly achievable. Boycott them! Instead, give your charitable contributions to public interest and environmental groups involved in real cancer prevention. Such a boycott is well overdue and will send the only message this “charity” can no longer ignore.

The cancer industry must recognize that cancer is largely avoidable through diet and lifestyle changes. The cancer establishment must be forced to increase its present minuscule appropriations for cancer prevention so that they achieve parity with diagnosis, treatment and basic research over the next few years. For instance a mammogram is not preventative medicine – it is just a test that may indicate if you have cancer or not and there are some reports of it actually causing cancer over the long term.

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